Guide to Command
At a Glance Command can be one of the most important, and hardest roles to fill. As someone in a command position, you are in charge of some aspect of the station. You are the centerpiece of all that does, and does not get done in your area. Some situations will be simple, and require nothing more than a passing word to deal with. Some other situations, however, will be a living nightmare, that will require your direct, and full attention, communication, and delegation to handle. No pressure, right? Command is not a role everyone can fill. Do not be discouraged if you get overwhelmed by stress, or can't keep up your first few times. There is a lot of baggage to carry, and a lot of things you can do wrong, when you will mostly be expected to be the best in your field. General Guidelines While every command role you may fill will be vastly different in the actions you and your department will take, there are some general binding ideas that can be applied to each and every role that has some sort of commanding role to it. If you wish to be a good leader, following these basic ideas is a must. 1. Communicate This guideline is the most important to follow, and it is the one most command staff fail at, hence why this is the first topic to be covered. As command staff, you are first an administrator. Your job is to delegate among your department, ensure tasks are completed, and make sure you subordinates are part of a well oiled machine for when it gets to be crunch time. Make sure you know where everyone is, have people check in, and if there is something the entire station needs to know, remember that each head of staff has a communication console in their office, that you can send an announcement that will be very visible. Not enough people tend to utilize this, and general comms tends to be so filled with clutter, especially in the start of an emergency, that you trying to convey information that way will fall half the time on deaf ears. 2. Be known This point goes a bit in hand with Communication. If you do not have a presence in your department, when you try to take control of a situation, or some kind of panic in the department, your voice will be new, and some may not be trusting of this. At the start of a shift, or when you join, try communicating with your department, get a quick idea of who you have under you, and how to best use each of them. Give out orders, even if it is as little as "You know what you are doing, go do it." Making the initial connection with each member of your department can be key to making sure things have structure when you need it. 3. Use the Command Channel Nothing is worse than being uninformed. Many times situations have more than one department involved. For one example, say there is someone who set off a bomb, someone was caught in there, and there was someone sighted with a gun at the site. You have 3 departments involved in this issue now. If the engineers and medics head in, and security has no information about that issue, then the other two departments have been metaphorically thrown in a fire. Coordinate with your fellow command staff, make things happen, and relay important information to your department as needed. As the saying goes, knowledge is power. 4. Know the Jobs of the Department Nothing is worse than someone like a Chief Engineer not knowing how the Supermatter Engine is setup, to name an example. This kind of thing can be outright infuriating when those under your command tell you how to do the basic parts of your job. Not only does it not help with any time efforts of yourself are required in your department's dealings, but it will make those under you much less likely to listen, because they will more than likely lose their trust in your guidance if you don't even know what you are talking about. You do not need to know everything, but you should be able to perform tasks that your department does on a regular basis. Who Does What When asking on the command channel for assistance from another department, it is helpful to know exactly who to talk to. As such, here are some general ideas of what each Head of Staff is for. Captain As the person with the highest control of the station, the Captain would be the go to person for what needs to be coordinated, when something should happen, if something should happen, and general ideas of what needs to get done. Head of Personnel If you need more personnel in your department, or need someone's contract suspended or terminated, the Head of Personnel is your go to person. Head of Security For anything that might involve the security of the station, or any kind of legal issue, the Head of Security should be your best contact. Chief Engineer For anything that might be related to hull integrity, or restoration of atmosphere to an area, the Chief Engineer would be the best person to talk to. Chief Medical Officer If coordination for medical recovery and treatment is needed, the Chief Medical Officer is key to getting that done. Research Director For any strange happenings, or synthetic software issues, the Research Director would be your best resource. Command, Guide to